


Mako's teachings

by seijhoes



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, its mostly just Mako and his niece bonding and I love it, minor korrasami
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24836134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seijhoes/pseuds/seijhoes
Summary: Mako gets a frantic call from Asami saying her daughter set the curtains on fire, and that she might be a firebender. Finally, another firebender in the family
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 4
Kudos: 129





	Mako's teachings

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be more Korrasami, but it ended up becoming more of Mako bonding with his firebending niece, which was cool! I love Mako, and it's not really often that I write about platonic relationships, so this was really enjoyable. However, I will be writing more korrasami-centric stuff in the future, so keep a lookout for that!

“Ah, Mako, can you come over? It’s sort of an emergency.”

“Oh, yeah what’s wrong?”

“I think Shay is a firebender.”

“How do you know?”

“The curtains are on fire.”

***

To be fair, Mako probably wouldn’t have been the first choice when it came to asking for help with this, after all, Asami was literally married to the Avatar. However, said wife was out of town on Avatar duties, so it was just Asami and their nine year old daughter, Shay, and their six year old son, Riku at home. If Korra wasn’t home, and since Asami worked all day, sometimes into the night, Shay and Riku would sometimes go to Mako or Bolin’s place, depending on their moods that day. They loved watching over them, and they especially had a good time at Bolin’s being able to play with his three eldest children. But most times, they’d go over to their uncle Mako’s. Mako and Shay had a really close bond, he couldn’t really explain it, maybe it was because in a way she reminded him of himself as a kid. Spunky, quick-witted, it sort of reminded him of a younger Mako.

Korra and Asami had adopted Shay from the Fire Nation two years after Bolin and Opal’s second son, San, had been born. Mako had asked why the Fire Nation, and not somewhere in the Earth Kingdom like Ba Sing Se where there were a lot more orphans, but they had just said that it was the first place to get back to them. Which, made sense he supposed, and he couldn’t really imagine Shay being anyone other than herself. Three years later, they got their second child, Riku, from the Southern Water Tribe, so he supposed it didn’t matter where the kid came from as long as they had one.

But back to the matter at hand, Korra had gone out of town for some important Avatar business, which left Asami, Shay, and Riku at home. It had been a week, and Riku and Shay had only been over a couple times. Asami had gotten better about bringing the work she could back home, so she’d been home with them, including today, when he got the call. He was at home in his office, doing paperwork when his phone started ringing. Not looking away from the file he was working on, he reached over and grabbed it, “Hello.”

“Ah, Mako, can you come over?” Asami’s voice came from the other end. “It’s sort of an emergency.”

“Oh, yeah what’s wrong?”

“I think Shay is a firebender.”

Mako perked up at that. Another firebender? “How do you know?”

It was at that moment that he could pinpoint more voices in the background that Asami’s voice was somewhat blocking out. It sounded like yelling, more specifically two children yelling. “Asami?”

“Because the curtains are on fire, so if you could-”

“Yeah, yeah I’ll be right there.” He got up quickly and walked out, calling a hasty goodbye to Wu before rushing over to the Sato estate. He could vaguely remember when he discovered his firebending abilities, and no one was really around to help him learn how to control it, he had to do it on his own, and he had to use it to survive. But now, Shay, who had an uncle who was a firebender and a mother who was the Avatar, could learn how to use it safely and keep it under control.

He knocked on the door, being greeted first by Naga, Korra’s one thousand pound polar bear dog who had been outside at the time of his arrival. He received a big slobbery kiss and head nudge that nearly knocked him over. “Hey Naga, I missed you too,” He said fondly, giving her head scratches.

The door opened and revealed a flustered looking Asami who pulled him inside before he could say anything. “So, we’ve got another thing.”

Mako raised an eyebrow as she led him to the living room. “Another thing?” 

She nodded, gesturing to the mess of curtains and her two children. “May I present the other thing.”

What Mako saw were the once nice, pretty red curtains that were now singed, but also… covered in ice? As well as the majority of the floor, and standing by said curtains were Shay and Riku, who were looking both excited and guilty at the same time. “Wow.”

“Uncle Mako! I’m a firebender!” Shay smiled when she saw her uncle, running up to him and jumping around him. “I’m like you and mom!”

Mako looked to Asami for an explanation, who sighed. “The kids were playing and Shay punched the air, and a burst of flame came out and the curtains caught fire. I then called you, and a little after I hung up, we were trying to put out the fire, Riku grabbed a bucket of water and he tripped, sending water flying everywhere. He put his hands out and the water froze. So, now I’ve got two benders on my hands.”

He glanced down at the kids, and while Shay was looking at him with the most cheeky smile on her face, Riku looked a little more remorseful. “It seems like you guys had quite the afternoon.”

Shay nodded, gripping onto his uniform. “We did! I set the curtains on fire, and Riku is a waterbender and made the floor all wet and icy!”

“I don’t know if that’s something to be proud of..!” Riku piped up, still looking at his hands, almost as if he were mesmerized by the fact that he could do such a thing. 

“Well it is something to be proud of, but you’ve just got to learn how to control it properly that’s all.” Mako hummed, ruffling Shay’s hair affectionately. “I can help train Shay, not so helpful with waterbending though.”

Asami smiled and put her hand on her son’s shoulder. “We can get mom to help with that, thank you for offering to train her Mako.” 

Mako returned the smile and looked down at Shay, who beamed back at him. “Yeah, it’s gonna be great.”

***

“Go Shay! Kick your uncle Mako’s ass!” Korra called from the sidelines, taunting him.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence Korra- Shit!” Mako jumped back as his niece sent out another fire ball in his direction. “Give me a second Shay!”

“Think fast uncle Mako!” Shay taunted, aiming a fire whip at him, which he dodged easily. “Gotta stay on your toes!”

Mako had to admit, in the three years he and Korra had been training Shay, she’d become quite the firebender. Right now they were sparring in the front yard of Korra and Asami’s house, with Bolin’s daughter, Meilin, who had recently been revealed as a firebender as well, and Korra watching from the sidelines. They tried to make their sparring sessions a weekly thing if he wasn’t too busy, so she could show off her progress to him.

And while she had improved greatly, she was still fighting against someone older and more skilled than her. 

He smirked and kicked out his foot, knocking her back when she tried to rush him. Firebending was more about attack than defense, so she didn’t have enough time to block his attack before it came. Shay was knocked back flat on her butt, and Mako stood above her, holding his hand out. “Nice job today, you almost got me.”

“Yeah, and next time I really will get you.” Even at twelve years old, Shay was extremely spunky and a lot more like Korra than ever before. “Best believe it uncle Mako.” She grinned and took his hand 

Mako chuckled softly and pat her head. “I do believe it.”


End file.
